Bobby Watson plays Hitler in this film that charts his rise to power from his days at the end of World War One. The film takes us through the famous moments including the Munich beer hall putsch, the writing of Mein Kampf, the burning of the Reichstag along with throwing in many of the famous characters of the time – Goebbels, Hess, Himmler, Goring, etc. It's fast moving and it's educational so worth paying attention. The film also touches on the subject of his niece, "Geli", as played by Poldi Dur . Hitler's niece died in 1931 but her death by suicide has been shrouded in mystery.The film doesn't have an ending as such as it was made in a time when Hitler was still around. so it concludes with some patriotic propaganda as to how he must and will be stopped. The cast are good and look very similar to the real thing. Certain elements of the tale are left out – no Eva Prawn – but the film scores for being different. It provides a glimpse of this man's psychopathic disregard for life and does so without even touching on the concentration camps.

This film purports to dramatize Hitler's rise to power from the end of WWI to his bringing the world into WWII. While most of the facts are true, because this is a propaganda film it occasionally stretches the truth or gives a few outright lies--though not that many. So, when you watch it, don't expect all of it is gospel truth but a well made film intended to make Hitler look as awful as possible--which isn't really that difficult! I know quite a bit about Hitler, as a history teacher and because I took classes on him and read about him extensively while in college. A very disturbed but fascinating guy, that's for sure! And the film does a decent job in portraying him.Bobby Watson plays Hitler--as he'd done in other films of the time. He bore a very close resemblance to Hitler. While this is not really a good thing, it kept him busy during WWII making such propaganda comedy films as "Nazty Nuisance" and "The Devil With Hitler". Here, however, he plays the Nazi leader in a non-comedic role. In total, Watson played Hitler in 9 films! In addition, the actors they chose to play such notable Nazis as Hess and Röhm looked remarkably similar to their real life counterparts--showing the studio actually took some time with this film to get the look right. So, despite a relatively low budget, the studio took this project very seriously.For the most part, the film does follow the career of Hitler. The most sensational part of the movie, his relationship with his niece, Geli, was actually probably even sicker than the film portrays. I don't think audiences of the day wanted a THOROUGH examination of his life with her--some of the allegations are too nasty to list on IMDb (they probably would not allow it). The film implied that Hitler killed her, but it's more likely his very bizarre sexual demands and obsessive demand for her attentions led to her suicide.The biggest inaccuracy in the film was the constant portrayal of Hitler as an abject coward or a man easily manipulated by his staff. Now I am NOT an apologist for him--he was evil personified. But, unfortunately, he was not a coward. For example, despite the film showing him with hysterical blindness during WWI (a story that is inconsistent with him as a soldier), Hitler LOVED WWI and loved danger--often volunteering for insanely difficult missions. He really was gassed during the war, got blown up another time and received two Iron Crosses--something practically unheard of for someone who was not an officer. In war, he was in his element and thrived. Frankly, this true picture is a worse image--a war-loving monster instead of the abject coward and blow-hard they showed him to be in the movie. And, a man who was all too aware of the evils his henchmen did! Overall, a very good bio of Hitler. Well constructed and acted--and fascinating throughout.

Perhaps the first biopic ever made about Adolf Hitler (not considering the satirical Great Dictator), this was filmed in 1944, when the Fuhrer was still alive though with defeat already in sight. This unfortunately forgotten movie deals mostly with his rise to power, it starts with Hitler in a military hospital learning about the defeat of Germany in World War I and it ends on the eve of World War II.This film doesn't portray Hitler as crazy or as a raving lunatic and he is shown as being less downright evil than a cynical, manipulative and ruthless politician. For instance, the persecution of the Jews is shown to be not a product of his fanaticism but as a political calculation to search a scapegoat for Germany's defeat in the WWI. The movie consciously tries to mirror the gangster movie popular in its era (thus the title), instead of conspiring to rub off other gangsters, here Hitler conspire to do away with rival politicians, instead of fighting over the liquor market, here they fight over controlling Germany.The movie didn't have all the information that came out after the war ended (Eva Braun doesn't appear, but his niece Geli Raubal, whom the movie accuses Hitler of murdering, does; nothing is said about the concentration camps) but it is nevertheless very well informed given the circumstances, especially about the beginnings of Nazism, showing for instance how Hitler join the National Socialist Party as an army spy, in order to infiltrate it.Made with a tiny budget, and with no name actors, it is finally made interesting by its intelligent, literate script, sober directing and some of the acting. Bobby Watson is very good as Hitler, the supporting cast is a bit less (the actors playing Hess, Goebbels and Rohm look quite like the characters they are portraying, the actor playing Himmler very little, the one playing Goering, nothing at all). Recommended, especially if you are interested in the subject.

Many years ago, (early 1960s), I caught part of this on late night TV. I remember part of the announcer's intro, because when my dad walked in and asked what was on, I said,'some gangster movie', only recalling the word, gang. Some years later I realized that this was a somewhat accurate, though brief, look at Hitler's rise to power. Two scenes stick in my mind. Near the beginning, there is one where AH is a soldier in WWI with a handlebar mustache. He goes up to a mirror and cuts off the ends, creating the infamous 'toothbrush' look. Later during his ascent, he walks into a beer hall with his followers, pulls a pistol out of his overcoat pocket, and fires a few shots into the air. The 'beer hall putsch' ? Early forties, black and white. The actor REALLY had Hitler down pat.